(Reuters) – Moderna Inc said Monday it had dosed the first patients in an early study of a new COVID-19 vaccine candidate for its potential evaluation as a booster shot.
The company said its new candidate, mRNA-1283, could potentially be stored in refrigerators instead of freezers, making it easier to distribute, especially in developing countries.
The early-stage study will assess the safety and immunogenicity of mRNA-1283 at three dose levels, and will be given to healthy adults as a single dose or in two doses 28 days apart, the company said.
Last week, Moderna began administering the first participants in a study testing the candidates for the COVID-19 booster vaccine.
Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla and Vishwadha Chander in Bengaluru; Edited by Shailesh Kuber and Anil D’Silva